Examples Of Voice In The Great Gatsby

The way someone speaks - their tone of voice and their diction - can convey many messages. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, all the characters have a distinct way of speaking that tells the reader about themselves. For instance, Gatsby’s voice seems to be filled with confidence and knowledge, but the truth is, he is using it to hide his insecurities and secrets. Tom, on the other hand, is unwaveringly authoritative and knows exactly where he stands - at the height of the social ladder. Both men’s voices convey a specific message, but the only one who can sway another person with speech is Daisy. Daisy Buchanan's charm and power come from her voice, but once that is silenced, she loses all her mastery over those around her. Daisy’s

Daisy taunts the men with “her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again” (Fitzgerald 9). Her voice puts the listener, in this case Gatsby, into a trance. The cadence of her speech makes Gatsby feel as if her every word is worth more than all the riches in the world. But, similar to mythological sirens, her intentions are impure. Despite having loved him in the past, Daisy is now drawn to Gatsby only for amusement, which is why she keeps Tom nearby as insurance. And Tom’s reason for staying with Daisy is his love for her, and because “there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered ‘Listen’ ” (Fitzgerald 9). Daisy sits upon heaps of her wealth and beauty, “singing” to the people below her, fixing their attention on her and only her. She prevents her audience from hearing other human voices that would wake them, and consequently, drown them through realization of reality: that they were being controlled (reference to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Elliot). But when Tom and Gatsby begin to see the situation clearly, Daisy’s control

As Tom begins to reveal the truth about Gatsby and the conflict unfolds, Daisy finds herself speaking with no one listening. She tries to defuse the tension, “but with every word she was drawing further and further into herself” (Fitzgerald 134). The more she speaks, the less meaningful her words become and less others notice her. The lies she has told are revealed and, with every ounce of truth that appears, the clearer it becomes to both Tom and Gatsby how characterless she is. Daisy changes how she speaks and what she says based on who is listening; she does whatever will appeal to the other person most. Slowly, Daisy became “that lost voice across the room,” “no longer tangible” (Fitzgerald 134). Her voice can never again affect the listener because, without the lies backing up her words, it becomes completely useless. The final silencing motion is when she begs Tom -not Gatsby- to stop the fighting. In doing so, she relinquishes all control to Tom, and he becomes the center of